Corrosion may generally be understood as a deterioration of one or more essential properties of a material, such as physical or mechanical properties. Corrosion may be caused by various environmental factors such as reaction with oxidation, hydrolysis, and attack by acids or bases, etc. Corrosion may also be localized in one area, while the remaining area of the component remains relatively unaffected, causing phenomena such as pitting. Such localized corrosion may lead to premature failure of a given material in the component, making it desirable to assess localized corrosion of the material using both real-time and offline measurement systems.
However, just as various engineering components are exposed to corrosive environments, the measurement systems, and in particular the sensors employed in such systems, are also exposed to the corrosive environments. Due to this exposure, crevices may form in the sensors between the electrode and the sensor housing materials. Such crevices may cause changes in the size of the exposed surfaces of the electrodes and affect the corrosion rate calculations, employing Faraday's Law, as applied to the electrochemical kinetics that may be used in corrosion monitoring.